Device for handling tube-skelps



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wjo. ALLISON. Device for. Handling Tube Skelps. NO. 238,199. A Patented March 1, I88].

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Device for Handling Tube SkelpsQ NO. 238,199. Patented March 1,1881.

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Device, for Handling Tube Skel'ps. N0, 238,199. Patented March I; l88l.

h. PETERS. PHOTDJJTHOGRAPHER; WASHINGTON. Dv C.

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W. G. ALLISON; Device for Handling Tube Skelps.'

(ModeL) lzaveiror M a M N. PETEHIS, PHOTOL|THOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D. C.

' UNITED STATESi PATENT @FFICE.

WILLIAM G. ALLISON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

DEVICE FOR HANDLING TUBE-SKELPS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 238,199, dated March 1, 1881.

' Application filed June 11,1880. (ModeL) To all whom it may concern y y Be it known that I, WILLIAM CLARE ALL sort, of the city and countyof Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Machines for Pushing Tubes and Skelps Into and Through a Furnace, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a class of machines designed to push metal tubes and skelps into and through a welding or heating furnace; and myinvention consists of one or more friction-rollers which operate, under the control of the operator, either to projecta bar carrying the tube or skelp crotch or jaw forward, pushing the tube or skelp into the furnace through the furnace to the grooved weldingrollers, or to withdraw said bar entirely back and away from the furnace; further, in the construction and adaptation of the operating parts to produce the above result,-all of whichare fully set forth in the following specification, shown in the accompanying drawings, and referred to in the appended claims.

I am aware that friction-rollers have been used to move bars in other machines and for other purposes; but no machine has ever been devised to push tubes and skelps into and through a furnace by means of friction-rollers andbars.

The object of my invention is to provide a machine,worked by steam or other mechanical power, to push tubes or skelps into or through, or to withdraw them from, a furnace,which has heretofore been done by manual labor, whereby the work is done in a more effectual and speedy manner and at a much less cost, since one man and a machine can do what formerly required several men.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying in it my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of same. Fig. 3 is a plan of the same. Figs. 4., 5, and 6 are detailed views of the pusher-bar. Fig. 7 is a plan showingthe relative positions of the pushing apparatus, heating-furnace, and weldingrolls.

A Aare the housings ofthe machine, and are connected together and braced at the top by the cross-brace B, and at the bottom by the bed-plate O, to whiclrthey are firmly bolted. The bed-plateG has a box-pedestal, 0, cast upon it in the middle, and upon this pedestal is bolted a step, 0 for the vertical shaft I.

Supported and working in bearings D D on the top of the housings A A is the shaft 1). Upon this shaft D are the two loose bevel-gear Wheels E F, provided, respectively,with a right and left hand clutch-face, c f; and upon the end is rigidly secured a chain-wheel, Gr, or other mechanism, to transmit a rotary motion to the shaft D. There is also a double-faced clutch, K, upon the shaft D, and between the bevel-gears E and F, having its. clutch-faces to correspond and close with those on said bevel-wheels, said clutch K being free to slide laterally, but caused to rotate with the shaft by means of a feather or equivalent device. The clutch K is moved laterally by means of a yoke, L, which is attached to a shaft, L, situated above and rocking in bearings Z l in brackets M.

Secured to the front end of shaft L is a le ver N, and attached to this lever, at its lower end, is a double operating-bar, N, provided with suitable handles.

Meshing with the bevel-gears E and F is the large bevel-gear wheel H, which is secured upon the upper end'of the vertical shaft I, which rests in step 0 and carries firmly secured to its lower end the large grooved friction-wheel J.

Situated on either side of the friction-wheel J, and in the same plane, are friction-rollers O P, of smaller diameter. These small rollers O P are grooved on their peripheries in a similar manner to the large wheel J and are secured upon vertical shafts, and are carried in movable bearings R, arranged to slide to and from the friction-wheel J in guideways on the housings or frames Q. The movement is imparted to the bearings by means of eccentrics or cams T secured to shafts S and straps U. The upper ends of the shafts S are furnished with square heads, upon which a hand-lever, S, is placed to turn the eccentrics and move the frictionrollers O and P to or from the friction-wheel J.

Situated in front of the friction-wheel J and rollers O and P, and immediately before their points of nearest contact, are the grooved guide-rollers V V, which are secured upon a shaft, V, having bearings at v '0.

At the rear of the machine are the guiderails a; x, which are secured to the longitudinal timbers X X, which are braced at the ends by timbers Y Y. Working between and upon these guide-rails w m are the guide-wheels W which are carried in frames W. These frames W are attached to long, square, or polygonal pusher-bars W, which pass through openings 3 in the frame Y, between the friction-wheel J and friction-rollers O and P, and rest upon the grooved guide-rollers V V.

Secured upon the bars W are rubber bumpers to, which, when the bar is projected forwardwith too much momentum, strike the timbers Y and cause said bar to rebound, and secured in the timbers Y are rubber bumpers y, which, when bars W are drawn back too quickly or too far, sustain the impact, which causes them to rebound, as in the previous case, only in the opposite direction.

In a complete machine there are two pusherbars, W, one in front of the opening in the furnace, into which the cold tube is pushed, and the other in front of the opening in the furnace, through which the. pusher-bar end is inserted to force the heated tube through the furnace and into the welding-rolls, situated beyond.

Attached to the end of the bar W for pushing cold tubes into the furnace is a tube or bar, It, provided on the end with a crotch, k, or, if desired, a three-armed skeleton-cone, 19 Before the tube is pushed into the furnace it is rested upon idler-rollers Z, supported in vertically-adjustable bearings z, and situated immediately before-the opening in said furnace. Upon the end of the other pusher-bar, W, is a vertical foot, 4", carrying at the bottom a grooved roller, V, which runs upon the rail 0 and guides and supports the bar W when pushed out to a considerable distance from the machine. Attached to the extreme end of this bar W is a hook, it. To the hook tis attached an adjustable bar, 12, provided on one end with an oblong eye, which fits over the hook, and on the other end a crotch, 19 or skeleton-cone p and at a short distance from the hook it is a hand-lever, p, for the purpose of manipulating the bar 19 so as to catch a heated tube and turn its laps to be welded to the top, or otherwise, as required. If it be required to withdraw a heated tube, owing to some accident, a pair of tongs are put upon the hook it, and are operated, in conjunction with the pusherbar W to withdraw the tube from the furnace, as desired.

' Having now described the general construction, I will proceed to set forth its mode of operation.

The power to drive the machine is received from an overhead-shaft by chain-wheels, belts, or bevel-gears. The shaft D is rotated continuously in one direction, and so long as the clutch K is not in contact with either of the clutch -faces on the bevelgears E F there will be no motion imparted to the friction drivewheel J or the pusher-bars. It being desired to push a cold tube into the furnace, I proceed as follows: The tube is first laid upon the vertically-adjustable idler-rollers Z, so as to be at the right height with reference to the hearth of the furnace, and the end of the bar 75 being directed so as to catch the said tube, the lever N and clutch K are thrown to the right, Fig. 1, thereby putting the bevel-gear E into motion, and through the agencyof the bevel-gear H and shaft I the large grooved friction-wheel J is rotated. The lever S, is then turned and the friction-roller 0 moves toward wheel J and presses the pusher-barW against said friction-wheel J, which immediately projects it forward and pushes the cold tube into the furnace to the required distance, when the lever S is turned back again and the advance movement of the pusher-barW is arrested. Then the lever N is thrown in the opposite direction, which causes the bevel-gear F to come into play, rotating the friction-wheel J in the opposite direction, and the lever S is again turned and the pusher-bar W is withdrawn.

The operation of the machine to push a heated tube through the furnace and into the welding-rolls is precisely the same, except that the bar 19 enters the furnace and is guided and manipulated until the end 19 or p is inserted into the tube, when itis turned so as to bring the laps to the top, and the forward movement of the pusher-bar causes the tube to enter the rolls, at which instant the machineis reversed and the bar 19 withdrawn from the furnace.

Having now described my invention, both as to its construction and operation, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An organized machine for pushing tubes, skelps, 850., into and through a heating or welding furnace, consisting of frictionwheels a dapted to reciprocate pusher-bars, in combi ation with mechanism to rotate said friction-wheels alternately in opposite directions, thereby placing the machine under the control of a single operator, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. An organized machine for pushing tubes, 850., into and through a welding or heating furnace, consisting of a central driver frictionwheel, in combination with two adjustable friction-wheels, one located on either side thereof, and adapted to propel the two pusher-bars in opposite directions at the same time, combined with said pusher-bars and driving mechanism, substantially as shown and described.

3. In apparatus for makin glap-welded tubes, the combination of friction-wheels adapted to reciprocate one or more pusher-bars, a welding or heating furnace provided with openings for the passage of the skelps and pusher-bars, and

mechanism to alternate the rotation of said.

friction-wheels, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4c. The vertical shaft I with horizontal friction-roller J, friction-rollers O and P, located one on each side of same, and gears H, E, and

F, in combination with right-and-left faced clutch K, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

5. In apparatus formakinglap-welded tubes,

5 the combination of an organized machine adapted to reciprocate two pusher-bars by means of friction-wheels, two pusher-bars, one

of which is about twice as long as the other, a welding or heating furnace provided with 10 two openings on the side next to the machine to correspond to the pusher-bars, and one on the rear side to correspond to the longerpusher-bar, and a pair of welding-rolls located beyond said furnace, substantially as and for the r 5 purpose specified.

6. The friction drive-roller J, in combination with pusher-barW, friction-roller P, movable bearings R, straps U, camsor eccentrics T, and shafts, adapted to be turned by a lever,

S, substantially as and for the purpose specified ,bar running in suitable guides and furnished with elastic cushions to arrest its movement in either: direction, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

W. O. ALLISON. Witnesses:

GHAs. B. MARTIN, R. S. REED.

7. The pusher-bar W, in combination with 

